Entry 543: To Peachtree Corners and Back

We are back from our trip to Hot-lanta, which at this time of the year is more like Chill-lanta.  The whether was about the same there as it was in DC, somewhere between 35 and 45 degrees for most the day.  We weren’t actually staying in Atlanta proper (ITP, as the locals say: inside the perimeter), but rather in a city called Peachtree Corners which is OTP north.  It was a relaxing, cozy getaway.  S’s sister, Sw, has a nice townhouse that isn’t too cramped with all of us (plus her little dog) in it.  It was a lot of lazing around, watching TV and movies, reading, drinking coffee, eating cookies -- the best type of vacation, if you ask me.

On Christmas morning, we FaceTimed S’s parents and opened gifts -- or, in the case of the adults, we watched the kids open gifts.  They’re at the age when the opening is much better than the actual getting, and they aren't big on patience, so they tore through everything (literally) in short order.  Often a gift wouldn’t even be completely out of the wrapping paper before they would move on to the next one.  The whole thing was done in, like, ten minutes.  We did another FaceTime with my family later that evening, and the kids didn’t even save anything to unwrap.  It was just as well, though.  It was a very frantic call.  Given the opportunity, Lil’ S1 will dominate the screen (often with his cousin Q), making it almost impossible for anybody else to speak (or hear).  If the adults actually want to talk, we have to put the kids on their own call and let them blather about Pokémon or Bakugan or what have you.

We did get to do a few things outside the house; we walked quite a bit.  We went to the botanical garden (see pics), which was bittersweet.  It was cool, but we weren’t able to get tickets to the evening lights display, so the whole time I kept thinking about how much better everything would look all lit up.  We went through a different drive-through lights display, which was fine, but not nearly as cool as the garden looked.  To make matters more annoying, Sw had tickets from her work for the botanical garden show for the night before we arrived, but they wouldn't let her exchange them for a different night, so they just went to waste.

[It was an Alice In Wonderland theme]

We also went to the zoo (see pic), which was fine.  We go to the zoo so much here in DC that I’m pretty much permanently zooed out, but at least they have some different animals in Atlanta, like giraffes and rhinos.  They also have pandas, which we have in DC, but they are often hard to see, because they’re the main attraction, and there are always, like, a zillion people crowded around their exhibit.  At the Atlanta zoo, you can just walk right up to their cage and look at them.  I couldn’t believe it.  I guess, that’s the difference between paying and going from free.  (The National Zoo, like many attractions in DC, doesn’t charge an entrance fee.)  I’d rather have things be free – everybody should be able to enjoy them – but it is nice to not have to fight the crowds just to catch a glimpse of Mei Xiang sleeping or Tian Tian chewing some bamboo.

Speaking of chewing, I certain did not go hungry this vacation.  I ate so much, I’d wake up and still be full from dinner the night before.  We really mixed up the food types – Mexican, Indian, Thai, and, if you count frozen pizza as Italian, Italian.  And then a massive amount of cookies – I probably ate 25 cookies in four days, no exaggeration – and even a cupcake for good measure.  It was so gluttonous and so glorious.  The walking is the only reason I didn't gain 50 pounds (although the belly is protruding more than I'd like it to; I really need Covid to end so I can get back in the Krav studio regularly).

For entertainment at night, I got the kids into Cobra Kai.  Season 3 releases on Friday, so I wanted to get them caught up on the first two seasons (and I wanted to rewatched them myself).  S wasn’t too happy about it.  There is some bad language and adult humor in it, and she is much more sensitive to that type of thing than I am.  But I won over a key ally to my side, Sw, who got hooked on the show, so it was four against one, and S had to cave or she'd be the Grinch.

It’s a great show.  It has the perfect amount of nostalgia and self-parody without being completely farcical, and the fight scenes are marvelously over-the-top (especially the final one of season two).  Also, the general premise – bullied kids who become the bullies – is interesting.  Lil’ S1 gets most of this, I think, but it probably goes over Lil’ S2’s head.  He’s just in it for the fighting.  That kid loves any sort of roughhousing.  He walks around the house going “Ike! Ike! Ike! Ike!” punching and kicking anything that gets in his way.  (Occasionally this is S, which doesn’t go over so well.)

Yesterday, he challenged me to a boxing match (he has a little pair of gloves), and then when I went into the room he had set up a ring using blankets, and he had gone into my gym bag and laid out my gloves and my headgear and mouthpiece.  It was cute.  (I actually wear headgear and a mouthpiece too, because he can hit legitimately hard now.)   We will see if he’s still like this as he gets older.  He took karate for a while, but he was too young/shy to really participate.  I think we will try again once Covid is over.  I’m not trying to turn my kid into a little badass, but I’m not not trying either.

I do have to rein him in from time to time, however.  Yesterday, while punching me he said, “C’mon, you pussy!”  And I was like, “Whoa!  You cannot say that!”  That’s definitely a Cobra Kai thing.  I told him it’s a bad word, and then I told him that if his mom hears him say it, she won’t let him watch the show anymore.  That did the trick, I think.  He switched to calling me a “weakling” after that, which is still not great, but acceptable.

[Some cookies we decorated over Zoom with my family before we went to Atlanta.  They turned out very nicely.]

In general, S and I have different views about this.  I don't mind them hearing bad language or seeing sex scenes (within reason), because I think it's a good chance to teach them about those things.  S's view is that they are going to repeat it at inappropriate times, but I think that's actually less likely if they know what those things are and what they mean and learn the context for which they are appropriate.  I mean, they're going to learn those things anyway, and I'd rather it be when I'm around, so that I can explain it to them and educate them on what is and is not appropriate and when.  For example, Lil' S2 now knows that p-word is a bad thing to say and that he'll get in trouble if he says it, and so he hasn't said it again.  That's a good thing.

The things I don't want them watching are the things that could be potentially traumatizing or give them nightmares.  But four-letter words and sexual innuendo aren't that.  In short, as long as they aren't watching pornography, YouTube propaganda videos, or, like, Silence of the Lambs, I'm okay with it.

Alright, I think I have to wrap this one up about.  Have a Happy New Year!  If you want to celebrate the end of this terrible year, by all means, go for it.  Personally, I'm reserving most my good cheer for January 20.  That's the real end to 2020, as far as I'm concerned.

Until next time...